Matching Pegs

When I wanted to teach the kids how to sew, I decided to start with back stitch. I figured that it was the easiest stitch to follow along a line. One of the main things I learnt was to give them shapes to stitch that didn’t require any backtracking, (ie. letters s or o or l are good but t or a or x are tricky, as you need to stop and start again in different places). The above Heart and Teddy shapes are both simple outlines made by single lines that begin and end in the same place. I borrowed them from the design of this quilt. The kids did all the hand stitching except for the faces, and I did the machine sewing.

Amelia stitched this in two days when she was five and a half. Rory wanted to join in too, but found it a little harder at three and a half (which was no surprise to me, but he loved to do whatever Amelia was doing).

Rory picked it up again over a year later and finished it, and only now have I taken the time to put borders on it and bind it (the pins are still in binding at the back, which is why it looks a little wonky. I am going to hang it under Amelia’s one, but can no longer get the dear little hangers, (unless anyone out there can point me in the right direction) so I will have to think of something else.

I have been turning the kids’ drawings into stitcheries on things for years. Here are two of my favourites, taken from drawings that Amelia did when she was younger that I have stitched onto clothing. The first was done when she was about five, and is on a windcheater.

This second one is a portrait of her father that she drew when she was four and a half. I put it on a top for Luke for that Christmas. I recreated Amelia’s lines exactly, but just changed the colour of her black lines to white. I love the big eyelashes.

Both of these required quite a complicated method to mark them out, as even a light box was not going to work. I used coloured pencils, unwaxed baking paper, ordinary sewing thread and finally the stranded embroidery thread that you see here now. One of these days I will have to make a tutorial, as it takes quite a few steps to mark out this way. How do you mark out designs on black or very thick fabric?

So this is what I had been working on for the last two evenings.

Knitting is not something that comes easily to me. While I have found it quite relaxing, I don’t image that I would find making a whole garment to be quite so calming. This is only my second item I have ever made. Apart from the choice of wool, it is exactly the same as the first. It’s all about the wool, and if these two indicate anything about my preference, it is that I like a variegated wool.

The only reason that I had a go at knitting anything was that I spotted this divine wool in the local wool shop, (I was probably there to purchase wool for doll’s hair). My photo, and more specifically, the available light does not do it justice. It is a lovely soft fluffy dusky rainbow colour appropriately titled “Uluru“, it certainly evokes the colours of the red centre at sunset. I just had to have it, and if that meant learning to knit, so be it! So the lovely lady at the shop sold me a book on knitting basics, and suggested a pattern of stitches to follow, and Ta Da! Colours get me every time.

It has been a busy few days here in the Matching Pegs household, and I have nothing to show you. Instead I thought I would give some of the spotlight over to the kids’ creative endeavours.

This is a picture that Rory created this morning, of a dragon and some knights. He has been spending lots of time lately creating enormous posters, made of 6 or 8 pieces of A4 which he has drawn on and taped together. They are all wonderful creations, but a little difficult to store.

I think it has really shown us that his concentration span is improving, as he has been sitting and drawing for much longer than he ever has before.

He enlisted Amelia’s help for this drawing - asking her to draw a dragon that he could copy. Hers is the blue version.

The kids also spent quite some time this morning “driving to the snow”. This involved lining all the chairs up in a row, like a bus, and wearing all the warm hats, scarfs and gloves they could find. Here is Michaela on the bus, wearing Amelia’s oversized beret.

On Friday night I appeared in the Wedding Dress Parade that i have been mentioning lately. I wore a wedding dress from the same year that I got married, 1998 (Not mine) and the bridesmaid dress I wore to my sisters wedding back in March. It was a lot of fun, and I am hoping that someone I know took photos. It was very strange to see my wedding dress on someone else, especially as the model had very dark brown hair, her colouring was quite different to mine. It was really nice to get it out again. The last parade was 13 years ago, and my Grandmother’s dress was in it. Since then, the moths have gotten to it, and it has been thrown out. This certainly makes a case for letting the world see them while the dresses are in tact. The money raised for the Migori Orphanage in South Western Kenya was over $2,200 AUD, so it was a very successful night.

I have spent the last few weeks working on a secret project that I can’t show you until December. It is very exciting, and has been taking up all of my creative time. In December I promise to show it to everyone!

Last Thurday we had a charming little visitor.

Michaela was the first to notice the Homing Pigeon on the garage roof, in the shelter of a short brick ledge that tops it. She could see him out our kitchen window, and said “look Mummy, a white birdie”. Being dusk, it was hard to get a photo, but with the naked eye we could see its little tags around its legs. She/He stayed for the night, and I saw him/her again in the front garden the following afternoon.

By the time we walked back from school, it was gone, and all that was left was a collection of 5 white feathers on the lawn. I am sincerely hoping that they fell out as the pigeon was walking around out there, and not as a result of the intervention on a neighbourhood cat. You can just see one of the feathers in the background of this photo, so it is possible that the feathers were ready to come out. Hopefully the little white birdie is winging its way home or already there. That is all my news, but here is a picture that I couldn’t help taking of a forlorn little leaf on our magnolia tree. You can just make out some of the buds that will be amazing flowers in a month or two. What’s growing in your garden?

Here is her Royal Highness….

You will have to imagine her with a Crown and Cape, knighting someone with a sword. She was awesome!

Well I got started on a bag for Michaela… and finished it in the same day. Amazing!

Michaela’s bag is a little version of the bag I have been using as a “Nappy Bag” since she was a baby. I bought enough of the lovely oriental blossom print fabric to make a fold-out-Nappy-bag that you could change the baby on. I had a version that I was given with Teddies on it, for my other two babies, and wanted something more suitable for a grown up to carry. I managed to make my version of one of these bags for a friend, but by the time I was ready to make one for me, my stomach was too enormous for crawling around on the floor to lay it out. I ended up making the much simpler bag above, which I can continue to use, now that I no longer need to carry nappies.

I have made lots of things with the oriental fabric, and still have more left (Hooray).

Here is the beautiful lining that we picked out, which we also used inside Amelia’s Reader-Bag.

Do you have a favourite fabric that you have used in lots of projects?

The girls and I have spent part of the weekend making more felt flowers, woolly blooms that are most suitable for this cooler weather. That is to say, I spent the time actually assembling them, and the girls helped me with colour choices (I had a bit more influence over Michaela’s choices, truth be told). They also both loved sifting through the button treasure trove, that Amelia won, for suitable buttons (Amelia is a very good sharer). I love the way the colour of the felt brings out the colour in Amelia’s eyes.

This darker purply-blue one of Michaela’s is my favourite.

This was one that we actually made for Michaela’s friend, Maddison, who is having her 3rd Birthday party tomorrow. She is a big fan of pink and purple, which was something we kept in mind as we were selecting her felt.

Michaela agreed to model it for a photo, but was keen to make sure that we were putting it away for her friend.

Today I sewed up a lovely little “handbag” for Maddison, that I hope she will like. Tonight Michaela decided to model it as well, even though she was in her PJ’s.

If Maddison likes it as much as Michaela, I think it will go down just fine. I think I will have to get started on one for Michaela next.

I wish I could show you a picture of Amelia in her royal finery, as I finished the costume last night, but it was finished after Amelia was in bed. This morning it had to be packed up and sent to school. I will show you all when I can, I am very pleased with it. Instead (as my contribution for the Friday Archive) I will show you a couple of costumes that I made back in February 2007, for a Rock ‘n’ Roll evening at the school.

I made these matching circle skirts, complete with stiff calico petticoats to make them stand out. This was so much fun, and so easy, and didn’t the girls look adorable.

Amelia was 6 and a half, and Michaela was only 19 months old.

We had a really fun night.

The school had spent the day with an invited rock ‘n’ roll band teaching each year level a dance, which they performed that evening on the outside basketball courts. Families were encouraged to join in with the dancing afterwards, and everyone brought along their picnic dinners.

In the interest of family harmony, here is a photo of Rory on the occasion. He did not wear a costume, but had had yellow day at kinder, so is wearing a yellow t-shirt that was not usually one of his. Rory was 4 and a half.

It was a perfect summer evening, and lots of fun. The kids still talk about it.

For some weeks now we have been aware that Amelia was to play “a Queen” in the upcoming Grade-Two production “Fossil Rock”, and that she would need a nice skirt and shirt, but the school would provide a cape and crown.

While I did wonder what a queen would be doing in a play about dinosaurs, I thought I had it covered. We found a slightly large white lacy shirt that had been handed down to Amelia from a friend, and we pulled out the long pink skirt that I had made Amelia for last year’s trip to an old time settlement.

The other day we received the list of costume requirements, and I discovered that she was actually playing this great lady…………..

………………………………..Queen Victoria.

Queen Victoria knighted Sir Richard Owen (the man who coined the term “Dinosaur”) in 1884 - and this will be commemorated in the play.

A pink skirt wasn’t really going too cut it. Queen Vic spent the last 40 years of her reign wearing black, in mourning for her husband. In other words, she was in mourning when she knighted the Dinosaur man.

After a trip to Lincraft, which did not have much is the way of affordable, suitable costume options, I settled on a piece of grey drill, figuring I didn’t need to be too literal with the black. The only black they had that was cheap enough was Poly-cotton, which I loath, everything else was about $8 a m or more (It was for a one wear costume after all). At least grey was more stately. I also got some lace trim to tie it in with the lacy shirt.

Not having the skill or budget to recreate the Queen’s voluminous look, I hunted around for some other looks of the period (1880s).

I thought a slimmer silhouette, and just a little bit of trim, similar to this look.

I really like this image, and even the colour was similar to my fabric find - grey with a hint of blue or purple.

So this afternoon I sat in the sun at the kitchen table and applied the lacy trim to the bottom of the skirt. I plan to make an elastic waist, and then make a wide separate “belt” to tie over it (at the back) to give the illusion of a high waist. I will need Amelia home for that part though. The lacy white shirt will froth over the top, and this will hopefully go well with the cape and crown.

The Autumn sun today was so glorious, it was the kind of day where you are just glad to be alive, drinking in the sunlight. While I had a nice hot cuppa, I enjoyed the sight of a line full of washing, lazily flapping in the warm air, and the knowledge that there will be no damp washing cluttering up the place tonight.

These are the first of my Narcissus Erlicheer (pronounced Early Cheer) to flower. I don’t really understand if they are Jonquils (as I thought they were) or Daffodils, but what ever they are, they smell divine.

The only problem is that they should flower in late Winter, or early Spring (hence the name). This sort of thing just scares me I must admit. We seem to get more proof of the whole climate change thing every day. But then I start to get confused as well. When exactly did they come out last year? I’m not sure.

Perhaps I will just have to make sure to enjoy them, and not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Can you guess which one is me? (Hint, I am not the one holding the babies)

This photo may give you a clue (I just wanted an excuse to show it)….. In both photos, I am the little one on the left. The other little one is my twin brother Julian. Since I had my own children, I have (or course) an new respect for the amount of work it must have been to care for twins. When I think of the profound learning curve that you travel with your first baby, I am amazed that my parents survived bringing home two. Especially Mum. Dad has always been a very hard worker, which meant Mum putting in long hours at home alone with little people. I know this is not easy at all. Thank you Mum, I love you. Happy Mothers’ Day.

This is what I was given after I was roused late by three apron bedecked children. Of couse they did not cook this on their own (thank you Luke). After this, the cooks went on to make a Chocolate cake and some Honey Joys, to take to afternoon tea at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. So I lapped up being a Mum and seeing my Mum. All in all it was a wonderful day.